Kaspersky Lab rejects claims of Russian influence

Roger Woods

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has directed that every government agency must remove any and all Kaspersky software from their systems within 90 days. The firm has about 400 million customers worldwide.

Kaspersky continues to deny it has ties to the Kremlin either from it's company or members of the company.

"I applaud the Trump administration for heeding my call to remove Kaspersky Lab software from all federal agencies", she said in a statement.

Duke directed all US federal agencies and departments to stop using products or services supplied directly or indirectly by the Russian-owned and operated company.

Kasperksy Lab has rejected allegations from the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that it has ties to the Russian Government and poses a threat to national security, and expressed disappointment with the decision to ban the use of its software on US Government systems. US government and private sector cyber experts were also invited.

The Order, the Department admitted, wasn't based on any hard evidence of compromise or potential compromise - merely the supposed "links" between Kaspersky and the Russian government. Kaspersky products will now be withdrawn from stores and the firm's website.

In addition, U.S. retailer Best Buy has said it would no longer sell Kaspersky products in its stores, it's not known whether JB Hi Fi, Officeworks and Harvey Norman will follow the lead of the big United States retailer.

During a Senate hearing in May, American security officials including the chiefs of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Central Intelligence Agency were asked if they were comfortable having Kaspersky software running on their organizations' computers.

Kaspersky said it is not subject to the Russian laws cited in the directive and said information received by the company is protected in accordance with legal requirements and stringent industry standards, including encryption.

Best Buy Co. declined to give details about why it dropped Kaspersky products, saying that it doesn't comment on contracts with specific vendors.

But Kaspersky also sells to federal contractors and third-party software companies that incorporate its technology in their products, so its technology may be more widely used in government than it appears from the contracting databases, US officials say. Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire has push legislation that would ban the company's products governmentwide.

Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Rules Committee, sent a letter to Duke asking the department for information about the government's use of Kaspersky products, especially on critical infrastructure and election systems.

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